10 smart ideas from a small loft

Downsize without sacrificing style or function

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Built to fit

“We had the quintessential Portland life,” says Monique Menconi. “A 2,500-square-foot ‘ranchalow’ with a finished basement, chickens, an amazing garden.” But then? “We grew out of it.” It’s not that Monique and her husband, John, craved a McMansion. Rather, they wanted to live more efficiently.

So they downsized, purchasing an 875-square-foot loft in Portland’s Pearl District and hiring interior designers Jessica Helgerson and Mira Eng-Goetz to reconfigure the home. ​

Today, the loft’s main 15- by 30-foot space is kitchen, home office, dining room, and living room. “The irony is ​we have more space for the things that really matter,” says Monique. “We could easily have 20 people over and spread out from the kitchen to living room.”